Posts Tagged: The Voice Results 6

Eighteen-year-old Israeli singing sensation Ofir Ben Shitrit is in New York this week to perform at the international conference of the Jewish Orthodox Feminist Alliance.

The religiously observant Ben Shitrit burst on the Israeli pop culture scene earlier this year with her second-place finish on Israel’s version of “The Voice,” a television singing competition. Her surprise choice of avowed secularist rock star Aviv Geffen as her mentor on the show intrigued viewers and kept them glued to their screens week after week as the two worked harmoniously and productively together.

It appears that Ophir Ben-Shetreet’s suspension from her religious girls high school for singing in public on Israel’s “The Voice” has had no effect on her performance. Ben-Shetreet has beat out 11 other competitors on mentor Aviv Geffen’s team to reach the show’s second season final round, which will be broadcast live next Saturday from Tel Aviv’s Nokia Arena.

By now, readers of The Sisterhood are aware that 17-year-old Israeli singer Ophir Ben-Shetreet was suspended from her religious girls’ high school for appearing on Israel’s “The Voice,” a televised talent competition. The suspension was a punishment for defying the halakhic injunction of “kol (b’)isha,” which prohibits a woman’s singing voice from being heard by men. It was also meant to serve as a warning to other students who might have been thinking of following Ophir’s example.

I read Renee Ghert-Zand’s post on the Sisterhood earlier this week, and then made the mistake of reading the comments under the article (51 of them as of this afternoon). I was disturbed for many reasons, but not, like everyone else, because a high school girl was suspended for singing in public